Have you been suffering from a lack of time and other issues because you have to manage all of your brand’s social media accounts? We totally get it. Having to create content while also responding to comments, DMs, and more can be quite a time-consuming task when you also have a business to run.
That’s why you’re probably checking different social media management packages and trying to find out which one is the best fit for you. You might also be astonished at the sheer number of packages nowadays and might not know which one is good for you.
If that’s the case, we’ve got you covered! We’re here to break down what a normal social media management package should have and what you should expect from each of its services.
As always, if you have any questions regarding this article, feel free to leave us a comment down below and we’ll get to you as soon as possible!
What to do Before Searching for Social Media Management Packages
What to do Before Searching for Social Media Management Packages
When you search for “social media marketing packages” on Google, you’ll get offered thousands of different options from a plethora of agencies from around the world. It might be daunting to look at since they all offer different services at varying price points
So how do you manage to find an agency that has everything that you’re looking for? Well, it all starts with knowing what your company needs and how much work is actually required to complete all of the tasks.
This is something you should think about a bit since it’s unique to your company, but in order to help you find out what your needs are, we’ll give you a list of potential services your company might benefit from.
- Social Media Audit: An agency has to start with an audit before it can create content or manage your accounts. Otherwise, they are just improvising and charging you for a service with no real goal.
- Social Media Strategy Tailored to Your Brand: This is a very important step and it’s what any agency should do after auditing your brand. They need to be able to create a social media strategy that has a clear objective your brand needs.
- Bi-Weekly or Monthly Account Analysis: This feature is a necessity if you want to know how their content creation, management, and optimization are doing. They should be able to explain all of the metrics to you in the easiest to understand way possible
- Content Creation: For your social media platforms, having a steady flow of content is vital if you want to be noticed by both your followers and potential users. This is a crucial service if you’re looking to detach from your brand’s social media to focus on other areas of your company.
- Video Content Creation: While it does fall into the category of content creation, video content is generally charged as a different service because of how much it takes to make a single well-thought-out video.
- Account Management: This is the service you’re probably looking for the most. This is when a community manager makes sure content is being posted and that comments and DMs are being answered. This frees up more time for you to work on your business.
- Profile Optimization: There are always ways your profile can be improved to attract people and generate more leads. This service is made exactly for that reason.
These are the top services you should be looking for when searching for social media management packages.
What to Expect From Each Service
What to Expect From Each Service
You should know exactly what you’re getting with each of the services mentioned above. Let’s go over each of them in detail and explain what you should expect.
Social Media Audit
In a nutshell, a social media audit is a process where you or another company reviews all of your brand’s metrics in order to find what you’re lacking and how it can be improved.
Think of this as the foundation of any social media strategy, since without any knowledge of how your company is doing right now, it’s very difficult for them to create content or set a specific goal.
When offered a social media audit, you should be expecting them to go and explain how your brand is doing across the multiple social media platforms it’s on. Also, they should mention which areas are lacking attention the most, so either you or them (if you bought a social media management package) can create a strategy and fix the issue.
Remember that the goal of an audit is to help shine a light on how your social media profiles are doing and how they compare to the competition. While that last part might not be available on every single social media management package, it is common to see it and super useful in the long run.
While letting an agency do an audit of your brand might seem daunting at first, being able to distinguish which areas need a lot more work than others is vital if you want to make the most out of every service.
This also makes the process of the next service a lot faster to create and easier to follow.
Social Media Strategy Tailored to Your Brand
This is the most important step an agency you hired should do since it paves the way to what type of content your social media accounts should be posting and why they are doing it in the first place.
Remember that when you create content it has to be done with a specific intention in mind. If you’re making content just for the sake of it then you’re not only wasting your time, but you’re also cluttering your social media accounts with content that has no real objective.
That’s why having an agency create a social media strategy that is customized to your brand’s needs is essential. You need a direction whenever you’re making content and you also need a way to know if the content you’re making is improving your social media presence. But how are you going to know if there’s no clear goal in mind?
When we talk about a clear goal, we don’t mean a generic one like “increase engagement.” We are talking about a specific goal that can be measured over a certain period, like “increase total engagement by 10% in 3 months.” This creates a deadline to reach a goal and lets you measure your progress.
If they aren’t providing you with a clear objective while explaining the reason why they decided to go for it, then maybe consider searching for another social media management package from an agency that cares more about your brand.
An important point to note is that if the social media strategy they are using isn’t completely customized to your brand, then you should be wary of what other templates they might have ready to save time.
While using templates is okay, you want to make sure your brand is getting a completely customized social media strategy. After all, your brand is unique and the steps needed to make it grow should be personalized for your social media accounts.
Make sure to ask questions about the strategy and the process as much as possible since you want to be in the know.
While the agency should explain how the strategy and the process should go, another key point they should be showing you at least two times per month is the next service we’ll be talking about.
Bi-Weekly or Monthly Account Analysis
This is a very important service if you want to know how your social media accounts have been doing ever since the agency started creating content and managing them. While most people expect a service like the one before to also give you the metrics on a monthly basis, most agencies offer account analysis as a completely different service.
Here, they should be able to explain how your account has been doing in every single metric that matters. These differ depending on the social media platform and on the goal they set up for your company.
These account analysis explanations should be very detailed but simplified in terms that you understand. This way you can ask questions regarding the strategy if necessary and comprehend if your social media accounts are going forwards or backward.
Remember that these metrics take some time to change, so don’t expect a complete 180 in a matter of two weeks. It generally takes at least a month to get going completely.
But what metrics are you going to be seeing if they haven’t made any content at all? Well, we’re about to talk about that in our next point.
Content Creation
Content creation is the core of any social media marketing strategy. Without content, there is no way of achieving the goal that was set.
While you could technically ask for the social media strategy and do the content yourself, a service like content creation from the same agency that made the strategy for you is a better alternative.
This is because the agency knows exactly how to execute the strategy and what content would be best for your brand and industry. This will not only make the content a lot better but it will also free up a lot of your time per month. Think of it this way, you won’t have to think about creating content for your social media profiles. You can trust someone else to do the hard work for you.
The first step the agency should do is create a content calendar to show you all of the content they will be making over the next month.
Why is this important? Because it lets you review all of the posts they created, and if something is wrong or if you don’t agree with a post they added, you can ask for a change. This is a lot better than seeing a bad piece of content posted on your account several hours later.
A content calendar also shows you that they aren’t winging the content being made, but that they are carefully thinking about and planning every single post they make.
A very good question to ask an agency is if they plan on changing the content calendar depending on the social media platform. It might seem like something silly to ask, but each social media platform has a plethora of unique features that they should be taking advantage of.
This means that a content calendar for Twitter shouldn’t be the same as one for LinkedIn. There should be differences between the two. If they say they are going to use the exact same content calendar for all social media platforms, then you should be worried.
While it’s completely normal for content calendars from different social media platforms to share posts, it shouldn’t be exactly the same for each one. There ought to be some key differences like image size, caption length, relevant hashtags, etc.
What if we told you that all of this content creation is just for written posts and images? Would you wonder why they don’t include videos in the same service? Well, our next point answers this question.
Video Content Creation
This might seem a bit confusing, right? Why not add videos in the content creation service instead of paying for them into a different service? Well, truth be told, video content creation takes a lot more time to do when compared to traditional content creation, like image posts for social media.
This means that agencies nowadays prefer to charge a premium for it and make it a completely different service in order to deliver the best videos they can make.
While this might seem a bit unfair, it makes sense for videos to be a service by themselves because of all of the editing and filming work needed beforehand.
It’s generally a better option to buy this service separately rather than having it all in one content creation service unless they can guarantee a good assortment of quality videos being created monthly.
Remember that some social media platforms like Instagram have been prioritizing videos over images, so a service like this might be a lot more vital for your company than you think.
What should you expect from a full video content creation service? Well, at least 4 videos per month is what you should be looking for. Most agencies will probably have different options if you need more videos created for your social media platforms, but it will cost you more money.
The good thing when looking for social media management packages is that almost every agency is flexible when it comes to adding or removing services, which helps you get what you want in the amount you actually need.
Now you have your whole strategy and content calendar for both normal posts and videos ready. But, who will post and monitor said content all day?
Account Management
This service is essential if you want to detach as much as possible from your social media platforms, but why?
An account management service provides you with a community manager who will be on top of everything regarding your social media accounts. This means they will be posting content, responding to comments as well as DMs, engaging with communities that benefit your brand, and making sure everything is running as smoothly as it can.
This service alone should help you stay away from your social media accounts so you can focus on other aspects of your business. Although that’s the goal, we do recommend you talk to the community manager you hired so you have a clear understanding of how they operate and what they’ll be trying to accomplish on your accounts.
It should go without saying, but make sure to check how they talk with users in your comments section as well as in DMs. This will help you get a sense of how much they understand your brand’s personality and how they treat other users.
While them using an automated message for DMs isn’t the end of the world, at least make sure it’s a custom one made for your account instead of a generic one. Most users will be able to tell the difference between an automated message response and a normal one, so make sure it’s as hard to tell as possible.
Something to be on the lookout for is how they manage negative comments/DMs and bot accounts trying to get you to follow them.
Each of these situations should be handled differently. By far the most important one to be dealt with is negative comments or a user who is skeptical and wants to know more about your product or service.
How the community manager reacts to the negativity or the constant questioning is a good indication of how they will treat your followers and potential customers in the future.
They should be understanding and try to fix the issue as quickly as they can. If they can’t do anything about it, they should notify you as soon as possible so you can find the best way to solve the issue.
Now, what about DMs and comments made by bots? This is a tricky area, since the community manager might not respond at all, which is completely fine, or they might send an automated message since they didn’t notice it was a bot.
While the first option is good, the second one is a bit concerning since it tells you that they are not reading the messages being sent to your accounts.
All of this being said, the first month should be the one where they get to know your brand. After that, they should have everything set so you don’t have to monitor how they manage your accounts anymore.
Profile Optimization
While this one might not seem as important as the other services, in reality having your profile looking the best it can be is really important if you’re looking to attract new leads and followers.
This service will ensure that all of your social media accounts look exactly the same in order to not confuse your followers if they want to follow you on other social media platforms. It will also make sure every profile includes your important keywords in the description alongside a clear explanation of your brand.
While all of this seems like a very small detail when compared to a social media content strategy, having a profile that doesn’t explain your brand and why someone should follow you will hurt you in the long run.
Imagine if a post goes viral and it gets thousands of people to check your social media profile. When they see it, they don’t believe it’s the profile of the brand that made the post because they feel like it doesn’t look the part and therefore it’s not worth following the account.
Can you imagine how many leads and followers you would lose from not having an optimized profile? Hundreds just from that post alone!
This is why you want to make sure that your profile looks the best it can be.
The profile optimization service helps you achieve just that. The agency should be able to revamp your profile across all social media platforms. This way, anybody who clicks on it is met with an amazing profile they’ll want to follow right then and there.
Now you know all of the core services a social media management package should have. But, why should you have to order all of them? Couldn’t you save some money and take something like content creation off the list?
While you could, it’s not ideal for your brand. We’ll tell you why.
Why Does it Include All of These Services?
Why Does it Include All of These Services?
The purpose of a social media management package is to cover everything related to social media so you can focus on other aspects of your business. This way you won’t have to stop what you’re doing to check for DMs and comments. You can rely on an agency to help you in a strategic way.
But do you really need all of the services to be completely detached from social media?
Not necessarily. The core services you would need in order to distance yourself from social media are content creation and account management. The rest of the services are made to improve both of these.
While you could just buy those two services and call it a day, it won’t give you the results you’re looking for.
Why? Because there won’t be any strategy behind it or a specific objective the account has to reach. As a result, the agency’s content creator won’t know what kind of content to make and the community manager won’t know who to engage with on social media.
All of these issues will hinder your brand’s performance on social media, no matter the platform.
So yes, while you could find a social media management package that is just content creation and account management, we highly suggest you find one with all of the other services as well. This way you’ll get the most out of the content being created.
At the end of the day, you want to get results from social media. A good agency will audit your accounts and provide you with the best possible social media management package for you.
Now, what if you have a really good budget and want to add some other services that might boost your social media presence even more?
Additional Services to Look For
Additional Services to Look For
Here are some services that are amazing at improving your reach and diversifying your content even more.
Article Creation
While article creation is great, you might be thinking about which social media platform it would be used in, right? There are several ways you can take advantage of an article post for social media actually.
The easiest option is by grabbing snippets from the article and using it to create a post for all platforms. This not only helps you create even more content than what is on your content calendar, but it can also help you drive traffic to your blog. This can be done by adding a good CTA at the end of the post drawing users to learn more about the post.
This will help drive traffic toward your website while also getting users engaged with your content on social media.
You can also publish the entire article piece both as a link or, if your brand is on LinkedIn, you can publish the complete article directly by using the article creation tool that LinkedIn offers.
All of these options are at your disposal after an article is created. Best of all? It’s also content for your blog!
Reputation Analysis
This service might be sometimes confused with account analysis and, while they both are looking for ways to improve your brand and its strategies, they are in different categories.
Reputation analysis is all about how your brand is received on the social media platforms they are on. The agency will do some research and check how people are talking about your brand and if there are any issues that should be solved soon.
With this analysis, the community manager can decide to approach certain engagement situations differently in order to get an overall better reputation for your brand.
These two services may not be as important as the ones we talked about in the last section but they can further boost your account and provide you with bigger growth over time.
Which Package Would Be Ideal For Your Company?
Which Package Would Be Ideal For Your Company?
This is the question that got you reading this article in the first place, right? Well, there is no easy answer when it comes to picking an ideal package for you.
You should do a good amount of research before purchasing a package and if you’re able to have a meeting with the agency before buying anything, even better since they can guide you to what your brand needs.
All of this being said, you have this article that explains each of the core services a social media management package should have. Basically, you have a good general sense of what to look for and why.
As we mentioned at the beginning, we recommend the social media management package to at least cover five of the seven services we mentioned here so that you can be worry-free after all is said and done.
Conclusion
Conclusion
You now understand how important it is to find a social media management package that has the necessary core services for your brand.
Let’s go over them really fast so you don’t forget what you’re looking for next time you go searching for an agency with a good package for you.
The first service they should provide is an audit. The purpose here is for them to know how your brand is looking right now and what they would suggest in the future.
They should offer a social media strategy that is tailored to your brand right after the audit. This will be the process they are going to be following in order to improve all of your social media accounts. This service is vital and should be on every package you find.
After that, they might offer a bi-weekly or monthly account analysis where they explain to you how the metrics are going and if the work being done is getting your brand closer to its main goal.
A content creation service should be a no-brainer since they already have all of the information needed from the audit and the customized social media strategy. They should provide you with a content calendar you can review and ask for changes if needed.
Remember that video content creation might be a separate service due to the high demand and how much time it takes to create a good video for social media. While not as important as having a complete content calendar, it’s a service you should consider buying because platforms like Instagram have been slowly shifting towards more videos and fewer images format.
The account management service is in every single package because you’ll be needing someone to be on your social media accounts at all times. For this reason, the strategy and content should be published and executed daily.
Last but not least we have profile optimization. This service is budget-friendly and will help your accounts tremendously since it’ll make them irresistible to users and will drive more leads and engagement to your brand.
All of these services are the ones you’ll be looking for the most when searching for the ideal social media management package for your brand.
Remember to ask as many questions as possible so you don’t have any regrets after buying the package.
If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to leave them down below and we’ll get to you as soon as we can!